"When I first met him, I must admit – you know [he’s] one of those guys you meet and you swear he’s been a part of your life forever," Richie previously said of Bryan. "I’m going back to check my yearbook. I’m going back to check the Commodores; I know he was in the band somewhere ... he’s got that personality.”

American Idol is moving to ABC after airing on Fox for fifteen seasons. The new season launches in early 2018, and Bryan is excited to be on the revamped show alongside Richie and Perry.

“To be on this ride with them and to see how serious they take it and how important it is — it’s an undertaking and a challenge that, when I started saying my opinion on the first day and they started agreeing with it, I was like, ‘Hell yes, I’m gonna be okay. We’re on the same page,'" he notes.